Thursday, January 27, 2011

Love in the Driest Season

I finished the book "Love in the Driest Season" a few days ago. This book was written by Neely Tucker, a white man, born and raised in Mississippi, who married a black woman from Detroit, and eventually, the two of them adopted an abandoned, dying infant African girl while they were living in Zimbabwe. It is a book that speaks of racial tensions, social injustices, and the African orphan crisis. It also speaks of the lengths people will go to rescue an orphan from certain death.

Neely Tucker is a foreign correspondent who has worked in more than 50 countries, reporting primarily in areas of war and human conflict. While stationed in Harare, Zimbabwe, he and his wife crossed paths with an orphanage and were captivated by a little orphan girl in a crib who was at death's door. This little girl had been found days earlier, abandoned in a field, only a few hours old. She was found in tall brush with ants crawling all over her - to the point that part of her ear had been eaten away. She struggled for many, many months, but was eventually nursed back to health by the Tuckers.

The Tuckers eventually became the girl's foster parents and later her adoptive parents. Though it seemed clear that this little girl needed parents, the Tuckers learned the Zimbabwean government was not interested in allowing foreign adoptions of Zimbabwean orphans. The Zimbabwean social welfare system was arranged such that endless hurdles were placed in the way of the Tucker's foreign adoption. And yet they fought and fought and fought for the life of this little girl.

Their biracial marriage resulted in prejudice by whites against her being black and prejudice by blacks against him being white. It is a touching book of the struggle that some will fight in order to save the life of an orphan, to give everything for the life of the helpless, to stand for those who are powerless.

It is staggering to consider the situation of orphans in Africa. A generation of parents has been erased and millions of children have been left alone, without love, without care. There are so many opportunities to assist in orphan care. There are many ministries that directly help the daily needs of orphans. What will we do? How can we help? These are the questions that continue to flood our minds even in the midst of an adoption. We know there is so much more to do and we desire to help. How will you use us God? You are the answer.

Peaches - we are coming soon to be with you, to hold you, to care for you, and ultimately to bring you home. We are praying every day for your comfort and peace from the Father of the fatherless.

2 comments:

Thanks. It is a great book. I will say that it is not written from a Christian perspective. However, there is such much helpful information regarding Africa, orphans, HIV/AIDs, adoption, etc. that I still highly recommend it.

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About us

We are a family of eight - two girls and four boys - living in Northeast Nebraska. On 11/8/09, our church participated in National Orphan Sunday (organized nationally by the Christian Alliance for Orphans). It was on that morning that God stirred our hearts to adoption and orphan care. We have recently completed the process of adopting a 4.5 year old girl from Ethiopia through our Agency All God's Children International (AGCI).
We are blogging our adoption for two purposes: to journal what God has done in our lives through this adoption, and to spread a vision of orphan care by providing information of ways everyone can be involved.